Colchester, VT, and New York, NY - April 25, 2016 – When VIP first acquired Nielsen’s Beverage Data Network assets last year, both parties indicated their intent to embark on a long-term business relationship to collaboratively deliver best-in-class data collection, reporting and analytic services with end-to-end coverage across all tiers of beverage alcohol distribution. In support of this commitment, Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) announced today the next steps in its strategic alliance with Vermont Information Processing (VIP), the leading supplier of wholesaler depletion data to the alcohol beverage industry.

Beginning May 2016, Nielsen’s scan data reports will be available within VIP’s iDIG analytics and reporting tool. This integrated tool, which is already deployed to over 16,000 users nationwide will provide iDIG users a one-stop view of VIP collected depletion and operational metrics with Nielsen collected and reported point of sale (POS) data for all brands and items in a category across multiple geographic markets and retailers.

“The capability to add Nielsen’s scan reporting assets into our iDIG tool is a key enhancement and integrates the insights that our industry relies on the most,” said Dan Byrnes, president of VIP. “This addition will allow suppliers and distributors to more easily access market- and account-level Nielsen scan data within a tool that they already use to manage their day-to-day business and will provide enhanced opportunities to analyze depletion alongside scan movement.”

According to Danny Brager, senior vice president of the beverage alcohol practice at Nielsen, “we’re excited about the opportunity for our mutual clients to access data critical to their business within a reporting tool that they are already very familiar with.” Nielsen is on a path to measure the total consumer, and the expanded reach of our insights through this analytic alliance allows more visibility into what the consumer is buying. We are fully committed to the unique needs of the beverage alcohol space with a continued focus on the expansion of retail measurement coverage both off and on premise, enhanced analytics, richer consumer/shopper insights, and participation and contributions of thought leadership to industry trade groups and at various events throughout the year.

Nielsen and VIP both have a long history of providing critical services to the beverage alcohol industry. This announcement is the latest result of a shared commitment between Nielsen and VIP to bring new and coordinated capabilities and analytics to its joint customers in the marketplace to drive even greater efficiencies across all three tiers of the industry.

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers Watch and Buy. Nielsen's Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services across all devices where content—video, audio and text—is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry's only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen provides its clients with both world-class measurement, as well as analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries that cover more than 90% of the world's population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

ABOUT VIP

Vermont Information Processing (VIP) is a privately held company that has developed solutions for the three-tier beverage industry since 1973. VIP collects distributor retail-level sales depletions and daily inventory transactions and is fully integrated in the three-tier distribution system. The combination of data collection, analytical reporting, web applications, and mobile applications provides turnkey solutions for brand owners.